If You Are Judged By The Company You Keep

Watch this video for confirmation of things you probably already know about Donald Trump:

The Shape Of Things To Come?

Over the past several years, I have become a bit of an aficionado of bourbon. Given that most of my life I have never cared for the taste of straight liquor, how I came to fancy it is something of a mystery, but it is now my hobby that whenever I see a new listing in the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario), if it is within my price point, I will buy it. The other frequent purchase is red wine.

My imbibing habits are really not the subject of this post; rather, it is a disturbing trend I have noticed upon visits for the past several weeks. Product prices are rising, not by ten or twenty cents, but by dollars. For example, a bottle of Barefoot Merlot, a California wine, was retailing about six weeks ago at $9.95. It then went up to $10.05, and quickly jumped thereafter to $10.95. A bottle of Eagle Rare bourbon, (a rare purchase for me, given its price) jumped from about $49 to $54.65. I could give numerous other examples, but I think you get the picture.

Given the relative stability, even upward trend of the Canadian dollar, these increases on American products cannot be attributed to currency fluctuations nor simply a cash grab by the province. I believe there is something more insidious at work.

I believe that the Ontario Liberal government, should it win re-election in 2018. is planning to privatize the LCBO, surely one of our crown jewels, given the huge profits that go into the provincial treasure each year. Indeed, in fiscal 2013-2014, it made a record profit of $1.74 billion, more than our formerly wholly-publicly-owned Hydro One.

What is my evidence, other than the rising prices that would make the LCBO's sale even more attractive to private investors? Consider the pattern:

Before privatizing Hydro One, the government engaged in a series of price increases for electricity, culminating in the current peak rate (weekdays 11 a.m.-5 p.m.) of 18 cents per kilowatt hour. One of the reasons cited is that Ontarians' conservation efforts reduced Hydro One's revenues. Left unsaid is the fact that lower profits would have also resulted in a lower IPO when the first 15% of Hydro One was sold off.

But wait. There's more.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has made a big play to offer a wider distribution of beer, which will ultimately be available, but only in six-packs, in 400 grocery stores. Prior to that, she had expressed public outrage over the virtual monopoly enjoyed by the privately-owned Beer Store, whose proprietors are multinationals: Molson-Coors, Labatt (owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev) and Sleeman (owned by Japan’s Sapporo). At the time, she suggested a licensing fee would be imposed on that monopoly. Needless to say, that never happened, but the fact that beer is now allowed, albeit in limited distribution and quantity in grocery stores, suggests an effort to change the public perception about the virtues of privatization.

Next, there is the recently-announced LCBO delivery service. Finance Minister Charles Sousa said,

the creation of LCBO.com shows the government-owned liquor agency's commitment to evolve and modernize, and will provide greater convenience for consumers.

"The virtual shelf space now available to small wineries and breweries is fantastic," said Sousa.

The online sales site will be a huge boost to Ontario wineries, breweries and cider producers, predicted LCBO president and CEO George Soleas.

As well as a boost to their already fat bottom line, no doubt, thereby enhancing its attractiveness to future private investors.

Consider as well the recent hiring of Bonnie Brooks as the LCBO's new Chair. Known as a turnaround-queen, she joined Hudson Bay in 2008, becoming

its first female president and CEO. Brooks is known for engineering a turnaround for the retailer, dropping its moribund apparel brands and bringing in mid-to-high end fashion products.

Brooks was set to retire from her role as vice-chairman before agreeing to take on LCBO role. She said this new opportunity would allow her to help “build on the great work that has already been done, and to take this exciting retail powerhouse to the next level,” with its expansion online and its new role as wholesaler to grocers.

Cynics like me would suggest that she has really been hired to complete the transformation of the LCBO prior to the start of privatization.

Expect no mention of these plans before the next election. Just as the privatization of the very profitable Hydro One came out of the blue, a cowardly and costly way to avoid tax increases while bringing in her balanced budget in time for the next election, my prediction is that Kathleen Wynne will once more betray the people of Ontario should she win another majority mandate

It is a sad thing when a citizen comes to look upon his government with suspicion and loathing. Yet it is an odium that the premier and her tired regime have justly earned.

Past His Best-Before Date

While I have long admired the film work of Clint Eastwood, his politics are a profound disappointment. Despite his advanced years (he is 86), I am unprepared to excuse him for this:

Clint Eastwood has stopped short of endorsing Donald Trump, but in an interview in Esquire magazine he praised the Republican presidential candidate for being “on to something.”

In the interview posted online Wednesday, the actor-director hailed Trump as a foe of political correctness and lamented what he called “the kiss-ass generation.”

“Everybody’s walking on eggshells,” said Eastwood, 86. “We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist.”

No, Clint, I guess when you were growing up in that storied American past, people knew their places, eh?

Oh well, at least he doesn't appear to be talking to empty chairs these days.

UPDATE: Yet Another '100-Year Event'

This one was in the traditionally water-challenged area of Phoenix, Arizona.



For additional commentary on our worsening climate, check out The Mound's post.

UPDATE: I have not yet had an opportunity to watch this film, but the trailer suggests it will make compelling and informative viewing:



The complete film can be accessed here.

Assesing Trudeau: A Guest Post By Pamela MacNeil

Yesterday, in response to my post about the Trudeau government's diluting the terms of the rules governing the export of arms, frequent commentator Pamela MacNeil offered these insightful observations:

I think "the terrible embargo on truth, honesty and openness," Lorne, will still be there with Trudeau. He can march on gay pride parades and support gender equality, which are good things, but he threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation these rights rest on. He has shown this with his support of the BDS motion and with his military deal with Saudi Arabia, to name a few of his decisions. The response he gives to violating Canadians' rights in these decisions is complete indifference.

His ignoring of amending or, better still, repealing Bill C-51 is very worrisome. The security and privacy risks it poses have already been enacted on some Canadians by CSIS. He may remain silent about it until he can find a way to keep it intact.

His foreign policies follow almost completely Harper's Neoliberal and American Imperial agenda. The U.S. expanding NATO troops, including Canada, in Eastern Europe along the Russian border is very dangerous.

Trudeau goes along and accepts the propaganda narrative that the U.S. is spewing about Russia. More then ever this is when we need a strong independent PM who at the very least questions U.S. foreign policy or, better still, says no to its request to go along with the deception.

The policies he creates in energy, climate change, trade and defence are not in Canadians' interest, but are in fact supporting special interests, especially the American Government's interests.

He is no different than Harper, including having his MPs toeing the party line. Where Harper was a miserable, petty personality, Trudeau is very likable. That is primarily where they differ. In developing policy, however, they are Neoliberal Imperial twins. This does not make him less an authoritarian then Harper.

Because of his strong positive personality though, it's going to take Canadians a long time to come to that conclusion.

When Canadians gave Trudeau his majority, we were ready to once again become a progressive, sophisticated country that respected the rights of all Canadian citizens including the rights of citizens of the world. Instead, Trudeau has embarked on a journey of making Canada a sycophant of the U.S. and is quite prepared to destroy our sovereignty in becoming that sycophant.

Where Harper was aware of what he was doing, Trudeau may be oblivious to the political and cultural consequences of his policy decisions. This doesn't make him any less dangerous.

Canadians are going to have a serious fight on our hands when we realize we're going to have to once again reclaim our democracy.

Are The Changes Only Cosmetic?

Despite unpromising predictions, Justin Trudeau led his party to overwhelming victory close to a year ago. And like political prisoners held captive by a foul and reactionary regime, Canadians began immediately basking in the freedom they were so long denied. According to a Toronto Star article, that basking continues to this day.

“People are welcoming this more active, bolder form of federal government,” said Frank Graves, president of EKOS Research Associates.

Graves said that the Liberals have been consistently polling above 40 per cent in popular support. His firm’s most recent survey had the Liberals at 46 per cent, the Conservatives at 26 per cent and the NDP at 15 per cent.

While I continue to feel much better than the years I chafed under the Harper cabal, it would be imprudent for any of us to simply turn our eyes away and merely trust Justin and his team to do the right thing. As many others have pointed out, there are some very troubling indicators that in many ways we are witnessing only a change in styles, not substance, from the previous regime. A cosmetic makevoer, if you will.

Thanks to Kev, who tweeted a link to this story, it would seem we have ample reason to worry, given the adamant refusal of Trudeau to reconsider the Saudi arms deal. Apparently his answer is to simply change the rules.

The Canadian government has quietly watered down its own mandate for screening the export of military goods, rewriting parts of the only substantive public statement available on Ottawa’s responsibilities for policing foreign sales.

The Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada, published by the department of Global Affairs, offers the best insight into Ottawa’s export-control policy when it comes to screening deals to sell defence products to foreign customers.

Both the 2014 and 2015 versions of the Report on Exports of Military Goods were released recently by the Trudeau government. Like previous reports, they include several pages of prefatory statements that articulate the rationale and guiding principles for screening weapons sales.

As the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and something akin to the diabolical is to be noted here:

It has removed a phrase about how export controls are intended to “regulate and impose certain restrictions on exports” in response to clear policy objectives.

Instead, it substitutes more anodyne language saying the goal of Canada’s export controls on military goods is, in fact, to “balance the economic and commercial interests of Canadian business” with this country’s “national interest.”

This edit removes the only reference in the entire document to restricting and regulating the export of military goods.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan made famous an old Russian adage while negotiating an arms control treat with Mikhail Gorbechev: "Trust, but verify." Clearly, with this latest development, that advice is as applicable today as it was then.

The Power And The Glory

The power is nature's, and the glory is the human capacity for noble, courageous action, as you will see. Two bad that in the collective human psyche, we can't have more of the latter and less of a thirst for the former.